TCM Archives: Laurel and Hardy

[Jeff]

From DVD Times:

[quote]Warner Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of TCM Archives: The Laurel And Hardy Collection for 18th April 2006 priced at $39.92 SRP. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Hollywood's most-beloved comedy duo, let loose on DVD April 18 in a brand-new release built around two of their best, but rarely seen, feature films -- TCM Archives: The Laurel And Hardy Collection. This deluxe two-disc set from Warner Home Video features the slapstick team's The Devil's Brother and Bonnie Scotland, (both newly restored from original nitrate film elements) and a number of bonus features.

Highlights of the bonus features are a full-length documentary Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story, narrated by Chevy Chase, which showcases not only the early films of Laurel and Hardy but also dozens of stars who developed a huge following from appearing in short subjects, such as The Little Rascals (Our Gang) and The Three Stooges. Also included in the extras are excerpts from several of the pair's movies, including the only surviving footage from the “lost filmâ€

[Gregory]

I like many of the Laurel and Hardy films that have already been released by Image, but I've heard very little about The Devil's Brother and Bonnie Scotland. I won't make up my mind until I've seen them of course, but I've never heard a good word about these two, even from Laurel and Hardy fans. It's a little surprising to me what Warner has been working on lately (aside from the Busby Berkeley set) given all they have in their vaults.

[unclehulot]

I like many of the Laurel and Hardy films that have already been released by Image, but I've heard very little about The Devil's Brother and Bonnie Scotland. I won't make up my mind until I've seen them of course, but I've never heard a good word about these two, even from Laurel and Hardy fans. It's a little surprising to me what Warner has been working on lately (aside from the Busby Berkeley set) given all they have in their vaults.

I can't say I've heard L & H fans disparage these particularly. I like them, and considering that they are absent from the various R2 sets (I have the 21 disc UK one) due to rights issues, they are very welcome. However, I find the price a bit high, seeing that the 2nd disc is mostly bonus material.

I'm sure many of us would have liked an earlier release of Stroheim's Greed (and if possible, The Merry Widow), so I think this series could stand a quicker release pace!

[unclehulot]

To be fair, I've been hearing rumors of this L & H release for some time. I think the surprise is that it's in THIS series, as opposed just a regular WB release. Considering the absolute horror of Hallmark's sitting on their extensive Hal Roach catalogue (and botching the couple of releases they have trickled out), it's nice to see SOME company release all of their L & H holdings.

[htdm]

For as good as Warner's has been in releasing classic/early sound titles, it is surprising to me how small their silent output has been. And they are sitting on a gold mine. I can't understand why they haven't been more aggressive in this area -- the market is there (just look at how the Unseen Cinema and the Harold Lloyd box sets have been selling) and Greed just seems to be a natural.

[Lino]

Cover art here:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... ction.html

[tryavna]

For as good as Warner's has been in releasing classic/early sound titles, it is surprising to me how small their silent output has been. And they are sitting on a gold mine. I can't understand why they haven't been more aggressive in this area -- the market is there (just look at how the Unseen Cinema and the Harold Lloyd box sets have been selling) and Greed just seems to be a natural.

You have expressed my feelings about this announcement exactly. I have nothing against L&H. (One of my favorite comedies is Sons of the Desert.) But if this release has replaced a possible silent collection, I'm a little irritated. As a matter of fact, I was just thinking the other day how many possible TCM Silent Archives they could release:

A von Stroheim collection (Greed and Merry Widow)
A King Vidor collection (The Big Parade and The Crowd -- and perhaps others, too)
A Lillian Gish/Victor Sjostrom collection (The Wind and The Scarlet Letter)
A Rudolph Valentino and/or Rex Ingram collection (virtually any of Ingram's silents)

I would have picked up any one of those for full SRP if I had to.

[htdm]

Those are all great choices.
My understanding (according to an online chat with Warners over at HTF) was that after the initial release of the Chaney collection, Warners intended to step up production of the TCM Archives series. I think it's wonderful that they are taking time to prepare quality supplements (the Brownlow documentaries on the Keaton and Garbo sets are great -- Schmidlin's reconstruction of London after Midnight is worthwhile too), I just wish they would release more than one set a year. (call me a greedy bastard but couldn't we have Laurel & Hardy and von Stroheim?)

[kschell]

The silent films of Stan and Ollie have been pretty well represented on DVD so far. Their sound shorts have not been, so it's a bit disappointing that we STILL don't have more of their classic Hal Roach 2&3 reel talkies on DVD.

That said...

"Fra Diavlo" is one of my favorite L&H features after "Sons of the Desert" and "Way Out West." It's one of Hal Roach's "big productions", an attempt to have a prestigous big-budget release. As long as L&H are on screen, it's delightful.

"Bonnie Scotland" is a bit of a mixed bag. There are moments, but it's not one of their classics.

Both of the above were available on VHS, so for me the real motivation to buy the set was on disc 2.

The documentary about short subjects was quite interesting, but tangential to L&H's career (they only get about 50 seconds of screen time).

The coup is the other stuff. I had always read that "Rogue Song" and "The Hollywood Revue of 1929" were "lost" films, so it's wonderful to see pieces of them here. Also the guest shots from "Hollywood Party" and "Pick a Star" are nice to have.

BUT...

If this set had dropped the doc. on shorts and included three L&H two-reelers instead, it would haver been a slam-dunk!

[unclehulot]

Just forget about the short films on R1, make the small investment for a player to play other region material, and get one of the R2 sets! Dvdbeaver.com even has a link to a great deal on the UK set from Amazon.uk. As long as Hallmark controls the US rights, you will NEVER see anything of quality (or much quantity) for the sound shorts.

In any case, it's not correct to say this stuff is not on dvd, just not R1 dvd.

[Gregory]

It's been difficult for me to decide exactly what to do about buying Laurel and Hardy on DVD. Fortunately the silent films will be collected in a box set by Image later this year that I will almost surely buy. I only wish they would include the option of the Beau Hunks' music (which I've enjoyed on CD for about 10 years now) as the R2 set does.
As for the sound films, I have at least a small amount of hope about the Lions Gate series, which showed great improvement in quality between the first release and the second volume, overlooking from some flaws related to the age of the films. I'm glad the UK set is now available for more than 50% off the retail price, but several things are keeping me from buying it. I wish they had used the original camera negatives for the silents. Secondly, if they hadn't included all those stupid colorized versions the set could be much smaller -- it already takes up over a foot of shelf space -- and thus available at an even lower price. For me, £80 is better than £200 but still a pretty major purchase. Fortunately, until I decide, I have access to just about all the R1 DVDs via my local library.

[Gregory]

I just watched this and was not all that impressed, speaking in general as a fan of Laurel and Hardy's work. Fra Diavolo (The Devil's Brother) was the better of the two, but it seemed to reply too heavily on the plot, which is of interest to watchers of Laurel and Hardy's antics only insofar as it gives them something to accidentally disrupt. The films have their share of comedy and other interest, of course, but in total no more than the best shorts. Here the material almost seems padded out more in order to fill 80-90 minutes. Because there is so much plot, Stan and Ollie often seem under-utilized. They're not bad films by any means but certainly nothing I'll want to return to often.

[ByMarkClark.com]

Neither THE DEVIL'S BROTHER or BONNIE SCOTLAND rank among the team's best features (and I believe L&H's short films were superior to the team's features). Both are charming but only mildly amusing. In most respects THE DEVIL'S BROTHER is a better film, but it's extremely atypical -- essentially, a comic operetta with L&H tossed in. I prefer BONNIE SCOTLAND because it's a better example of what an L&H feature is/should be, and it includes some amusing set pieces. Still, neither of these are a patch on SONS OF THE DESERT, WAY OUT WEST, A CHUMP AT OXFORD, etc.

Some of the outtakes included on the bonus disc, especially the scenes from HOLLYWOOD PARTY or whatever it's called, are funnier than anything in either THE DEVIL'S BROTHER and BONNIE SCOTLAND.

Finally - a word of caution on the R2 L&H discs (the British/Universal version, anyway): None of the transfers included there looks as good as THE DEVIL'S BROTHER and BONNIE SCOTLAND look here. Also, in several cases the audio is out of synch. Despite the wealth of great material, I'm not sure I could recommend this set, especially given the price and import costs (VAT and shipping).

[Gregory]

U.S. customers who order the big R2 set from Amazon.UK get the VAT removed, dropping the price (currently) from £90 to about £77. But again, I agree with you, this would have to be much cheaper than that before I'd recommend it.
Bonnie Scotland is an example of the episodically structured Laurel and Hardy features, which in my opinion never seemed to work as well as some of the others.

[lacritfan]

Anyone with Turner Classic Movies (TCM) set your DVR's to record for 24 hours this Saturday, August 23. (Please note the link lists the times for Pacific, change the time zone in the upper left corner above the show times.)